Pyongyang slams Seoul for seeking to dismantle its nuclear weapons

Pyongyang, July 31 (IANS) North Korea on Monday slammed South Korea for seeking to dismantle its nuclear weapons in its newly presented five-year plan.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in last week displayed his government’s five-year plan of state administration, which included the “strategy on the north”, saying Seoul would produce a plan for dismantlement of the north’s nuclear weapons, Xinhua news agency reported.

A local newspaper said in a commentary that the strategy is “a heinous confrontation scenario for intensifying anti-DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) campaign over the nuclear and human rights issues”.

“It is an unpardonable deed to remove the DPRK’s nuclear deterrent for self-defense, pursuant to the US scheme,” it said.

The official Korean Central News Agency also denounced the strategy, saying north-south relations “will never improve with the DPRK nuclear issue as a preconditon”.

“This is absolutely unpardonable as it blocks the road for improved north-south relations, disregarding the principled stand of the DPRK on the ‘nuclear issue’,” it added.